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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Swedish word of the day: bus

Here's a Swedish word that's a false friend for English-speakers.

Published: 29 October 2019 15:36 CET

Swedish word of the day: bus

... or treat? Image: nito103/Depositphotos

Bus means 'prank' or 'mischief' (if you're looking for the Swedish word for 'bus', that's buss with a double 's').

Over Halloween you'll hear it far more than usual, as children dressed in spooky costumes go from door to door asking bus eller godis (trick or treat, although the Swedish literally means 'trick or sweet/candy'). This is a very recent custom in Sweden, which only really started marking Halloween in the 1990s.

Because of this, there's inconsistency in how it's celebrated, so you might receive trick or treaters on October 31st, or on the night before the older Swedish festival Alla helgons dag (All Saints Day), which is always on the Saturday after Halloween.

According to Swedish etiquette website Vett och Etikett, the latter is preferred, and you can remember it by saying bus på fredag, ljus på lördag (trick on the Friday, light on Saturday).

Bus can also be used to refer to 'mischief' or 'trouble' more generally, while busa means 'to make trouble' and busig means 'mischievous'.

Examples

Hej hej, bus eller godis?

Hi, trick or treat?

Han har busiga ögon

He has mischievous eyes

Do you have a favourite Swedish word you would like to nominate for our word of the day series? Get in touch by email or if you are a Member of The Local, log in to comment below.

Member comments

Anonymous - 29 October 2019 at 16:50 CET

My favourite is always sköldpadda! It’s so different from the English word but so cute at the same time

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Swedish word of the day: kondis

Kondis is a great example of a Swedish slang word ending in -is, which essentially is the shortened version of a longer word.

Somewhat confusingly, in the case of kondis, there are actually two similar words which have both been shortened in this way, resulting in one word with two different meanings.

The first meaning comes from konditori, the Swedish version of a patisserie or bakery, which you might recognise from the German word Konditor (a confectioner or pastry chef), originally from the Latin word condītor, which referred to a person who preserved, pickled or seasoned food.

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The word kondis can either refer to a konditori itself, or to the type of baked goods and pastries they offer. A kondis differs somewhat from a bageri (bakery), which is more likely to focus on savoury or rustic baked goods, like bread (although many kondis also sell bread, and many bagerier will serve some sort of cake or sweet treat too).

A kondis is also more likely to have some area where you can sit and enjoy your food on-site, perhaps with a cup of tea or coffee, while bakeries are more likely to be take-away only.

The second meaning of kondis is a shortened version of the word kondition, which translates roughly as your endurance or fitness. If you’re good at running, you might be described as having bra kondition or bra kondis, roughly equal to being fit.

Another similar slang word for this in Swedish would be flås, which technically translates to “panting”, but can be used in the same way as kondis to describe physical endurance or fitness.

Example sentences:

Om man äter för mycket kondis kan man få dålig kondis.

If you eat too many pastries you could end up less fit.

Sprang du hela vägen hit? Du måste ha bra kondis!

Did you run the whole way here? You must be in good shape.

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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